I bet you remember the last great dinner you had. But can you remember the cooking and eating utensils you used to make it? Look, even if you know how to gather food in the wild, you’re not going to find stoves, pots and silverware out there to cook your emergency food. It’s the gear you don’t think about needing that’ll leave you hanging in a crisis…
So here’s what to do: figure out which cooking and eating utensils you absolutely need… then ditch the rest.
You’re better off packing only the necessities in your bug-out bag — Giving you plenty of room for survival food kits and other life-saving gear.
10 Cooking Items You Need in Your Bug-Out Bag to Cook Emergency Food:
1. Pots, Pans and Plates. A store-bought mess kit will do just fine. You can find them in a big-box store for about $10. And because they inter-stack and lock together, they’re easy to carry, use, clean and pack. Plus, more pots means more emergency food you can cook!
2. Silverware. Whatever you do… don’t choose plastic. You may think it will lighten the load. But you don’t know how long you’re going to be using these utensils. So go with metal.
3. Aluminum Foil. There’s so many great uses for foil. Use it to wrap vegetables, meat or fish when they’re cooking over a fire. It also works great to carry cooked food or your leftover emergency food when you start moving again.
4. Coffee Pot. Lash a small percolator to the outside of your bag to keep it from banging around or breaking. To be more efficient, you can keep small, clean clothing items inside it when you’re moving.
5. Cooking Pot. Include a large cooking pot with a lid in one of your bags. You’ll be able to heat up more of survival food that way. You might want to add a soft, lightweight, folding bucket for carrying water. Most survival foods need to be mixed with water. So that bucket will come in handy.
6. Serving Utensils. Getting your soup, stew, or survival food into a bowl will take more than a fork. That’s why items such as spatulas & ladles are much preferable to knives, forks and spoons. So make sure to pack one of these bigger guys.
7. Stoves. Single or two-burner camp stoves can make life outside your home much easier. They can replace a campfire if it’s not convenient or safe to build one. They’re sometimes called “survival stoves” or “camp stoves.”
8. Canteen. Make sure you have at least 1 military-grade canteen in your bug-out bag. The better ones also include a matching cup (which can double as a boiling pot), an insulated carrier and a utility belt for transporting them.
9. Water Purifiers. Nothing spells disaster for a bug-out experience faster than drinking contaminated water. Use a personal water straw to get clean water from rivers or lakes.
10. Dishwashing Liquid. You may have to use these items for a while, so keeping them clean and germ-free will be important. Make sure the bottle is tough and won’t spill if it falls over in your bag.
